Oxford Blood (32 page)

“The moment you started fighting she was in my power,”
Augustine continued, ignoring the interruption. “Now, I told my wife I’d never
hypnotise Harriet, but I hope she’ll forgive me in this instance.”

Adelaide smiled. “Anytime my darling, anytime. I never
should have taken her necklace away.”

Tom wondered whether that was the first time she had ever
admitted that she was wrong.

“So Archibald, I understand that you loved Stephanie and
that as far as you’re concerned, all of this is in remembrance of her,”
Adelaide said to him softly. “I was very sorry to hear of her death. She was my
niece you realise. I loved her too, and I don’t say that about many members of
my family.”

“It was George who killed her,” Archie said faintly.

Tom wondered how long Archie could stay conscious with his
blood ebbing away. If the wounds had been made with anything but wood they’d
have healed by now, but as it was they were still wide open.

“Oh I know. I only discovered that tonight. If it makes you
feel better, I’m so very upset about this that I have changed my mind about him
being the right man for Harriet.”

George looked horrified, but was sensible enough not to
speak.

“Of course, no vampire should ever kill another merely for
killing a human,” Adelaide continued. “It’s just not the done thing. But
unfortunately for you, I love my daughter more than life, so I intend to make
an exception.” With that, she twisted his neck. The snap of it breaking echoed
across the clearing.

“That isn’t going to kill him,” George said sulkily, finding
his voice at last. “He’ll be unconscious for a while but that’s it.”

Adelaide didn’t answer him. Instead, Augustine spoke.

“Tom, put Harriet down for the moment, and go to my wife. I
agree with her that you’re not a powerful enough vampire for my stepdaughter,
but I know she loves you. So instead of wringing my hands, I’m going to make
you one.”

Dazed by the rapid turn of events and still desperately
worried about Harriet, Tom wasn’t entirely sure what was going on. Trying to
stay calm, he jumped off the stage and walked to a satisfied Adelaide who was
leaning over the bloodied and broken Archie.

“Drink,” Gus said simply. “It may usually be frowned upon,
but where someone tries to destroy our traditions and threatens our very
existence, we can relax the rules a little.”

The suggestion was so shocking that for a few seconds, Tom
didn’t know what the older vampire meant. Then he realised, and kneeling
lightly on the floor, he bent over Archie’s prone body, sunk his fangs into his
neck and began to drink. The blood, rich with the power of all the vampires
that Archie had consumed, was intoxicating and Tom drank and drank. He paused
when he felt that Archie was almost dead, unsure whether that was what Augustine
intended.

Augustine nodded. “Drain the bastard,” he said, as calm as
ever.

Aware that everyone’s eyes were on him, some disgusted, some
jealous, some simply fascinated, Tom bent his head again and did just that.

***

Harriet opened her eyes and tried to work out where on earth
she was. All she could see was trees. Her head ached and she felt horribly sick
and dizzy. She attempted to get to her feet, but couldn’t make her limbs obey
her.

“Don’t try to move,” a voice said softly. To her amazement, she
noticed her mother sat beside her on the wooden floor.

“Mum, what are you doing here? What happened? I was at
college, getting ready for the party. After that it’s all a blur.”

“What’s already happened isn’t important,” Adelaide replied.
“What is important is what happens now. You’ve lost a lot of blood and taken a
heavy beating. We can try to get you to the hospital and have our people there
try to heal you. Alternatively, you can drink more vampire blood, and maybe
that’ll be enough. Or if that fails, we can try the third option.”

“What’s the third option?” Harriet asked weakly, although
she was uncomfortably sure that she already knew.

Adelaide just smiled at her. “You don’t have to decide just
this second. You’re in much better shape than I was when I had to be turned.
I’m going to send Tom over now. He can give you enough blood to keep you
sufficiently lucid to make a proper decision.”

Harriet didn’t feel up to a complicated discussion, but
couldn’t let that one slide. “I thought you hated Tom. Now you’re suddenly
happy for him to give me his blood?”

“I had nothing against Tom personally. I just couldn’t stand
the idea of my beautiful, talented daughter being with someone weak. But as
you’ll see, that’s no longer the case.”

With that rather cryptic comment, Adelaide walked away. A
moment later, Tom appeared from nowhere.

“So you can do that whole vanishing and reappearing thing
now,” Harriet said, puzzled. “What have I missed?”

Tom was practically bouncing on the spot with energy and
excitement. “It’s a long story,” he said, picking her up as though she were
weightless. “Suffice to say I’m the equal of practically anyone now.”

With that, he kissed her, and in one smooth movement,
slashed at his neck and drew her head down to the wound. Harriet wanted to ask
a million questions, but both her survival instinct and her urge to be close to
Tom made her decide that her best bet was to drink first and talk later. Almost
immediately, she began to feel stronger. Tom’s blood tasted different to
George’s, lighter and fresher, but just as delicious. She clung to him, never
wanting to let go, never wanting to stop drinking. Tom allowed her to take much
more than the usual token amount, but eventually lifted her head up. He kissed
her again, before carefully setting her down on the ground.

Harriet felt much less disorientated and glancing around,
realised that she was at the summer party. Then she remembered why she’d come.
“Tom,” she screamed. “We have to stop it.”

Tom just shook his head.

For a moment, she didn’t realise what the problem was, until
she saw Ben and all the others lying unconscious on the floor. Then she felt
sick all over again.

“Are you trying to tell me I slept through it?” she said in
a horrified voice. “Have they already changed?”

Before Tom could answer, George came over. “Well, it’s good
to see you conscious again,” he said in a brittle voice. “According to your
dear mother it’s game over for me and you. Now, for the record, I don’t give up
that easily, but in the circumstances I suppose I’d better give you this back.”

He took her hand and placed something into her palm. It was
her necklace.

“Have you had it all this time?” she asked, furious. “So all
this gloriously honourable stuff about how you wouldn’t dream of mesmerising me
was just a front? You nearly got me killed.”

“Oh alright, so I could have told you. But first of all, I
didn’t take it from you, your mother did. I was just taking care of it for her.
Second, I never did mesmerise you, after that first time out on Steele Walk.”
He smirked then. “So anything you felt was coming entirely from you. And don’t
tell me you didn’t feel anything.”

“Just go George,” Tom said commandingly. “Can’t you see
she’s had enough of a nightmare for one day?”

“Fine, I’ll leave you in peace for the moment. I need to
check on the new recruits anyway. They seem to be stirring and Crispin has just
brought the girls back from the woods. If I were you though, I’d get that magic
necklace on as fast as you can.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Harriet snapped, but George
had already disappeared.

Desperate as she was to feel the familiar security of the
pearls around her neck, Harriet decided to defy George by leaving it off for
the moment.

She saw that the inductees were indeed waking up. Ben was
the first to get to his feet. Harriet stared at him. She’d expected to feel
horror, but all she could think about was how he’d been transformed. Always
handsome and well built, he looked like an avenging angel.
Caroline is going
to be so
impressed
, she thought for a happy moment, before the
reality of what was going to happen next hit her. The inductees were manoeuvred
into line, each facing the girl they had chosen as a partner. The women were on
their feet but their eyes were entirely blank.

“Caroline, come here!” Harriet shouted, as the newly
vampiric Ben reached out and put his hands on his girlfriend.

Caroline didn’t respond. Harriet had expected this, and
tried another tack.

“Ben, don’t do it, for God’s sake, you love her. You know
you don’t want to hurt her.”

Ben turned his head a fraction. He looked utterly inhuman,
his skins deathly pale and his eyes almost glowing. “I know I shouldn’t,” he
said in a strangled tone, “But I’m not sure I can help myself Harriet.”

Sensing a hint of doubt, Harriet walked over to her friend
to remonstrate, but before she could reach him, Tom took hold of her. “Don’t
get in the middle of this,” he said gently, whilst keeping a firm grip on her.
“What’s going to happen was always going to happen. There was never anything
you could do about it.”

“You said you’d help me stop them,” she shouted, struggling
futilely against Tom’s iron grip. “You can’t let them kill all these people.
You can’t let Ben drain Caroline. I’ll lose them both.”

Several of the older vampires had turned to look at them. The
new recruits were too focused on their partners to pay any attention.

“That’s enough Harriet,” Augustine said firmly. “The
ceremony has taken place for centuries. You mean a lot to me, and everything to
your mother, but I can’t let you ruin it. The killing is unfortunate, but we
have no choice. If he doesn’t drain Caroline, Ben himself will die. What’s the
difference?”

“You can’t just kill people,” she shouted. Most of the crowd
seemed shocked that she was willing to argue with the centuries old vampire, but
there and then, as far as she was concerned he was just her mother’s new
husband. “Aren’t there enough of you? And why do you need to keep society under
vampire control anyway?”

“If we didn’t have the control, whoever did would find out
about us and kill us,” Augustine explained patiently. “Besides, between us, we
have centuries of knowledge and experience of human nature. We have the power
to get things done. With all of time at our disposal, we never seek short-term
gains or glory. Everything is better with us at the helm. Why do you think that
almost uniquely in Europe, Britain has never had a true revolution? How has it
achieved so much?”

Harriet, still held firmly by her boyfriend, struggled to
formulate a reply. She didn’t care about the big picture. She just wanted
Caroline, and if at all possible the other girls, to make it out of there
alive.

“Please let them go,” she said, as firmly and calmly as she
could manage. “Just this once. Do it next year if you have to, but just give
this group their life as a token gesture.”

“Darling, are you going to sit quietly and let the ceremony
continue, or am I going to have to mesmerise you?” Adelaide asked, in much the
same manner as if she were telling a small child that she’d be sent to her room
if she didn’t do her homework.

Harriet thought about the room that her mother had always
kept for her, and couldn’t believe that she was going to betray her. “You
wouldn’t,” she said.

Adelaide looked pained. “It’s for your own good sweetheart.
Although I have to admit, I can’t quite bring myself to do it personally. Will
someone please put her under?”

George immediately stepped forward. “I’ll do it, my lady.
Everyone would agree that my mind control powers are up there with the best.”

Adelaide nodded. “Alright. You’re talented at what you do,
but don’t think this gets you back in my good books. I’m going straight to
Stephanie’s grave after this.”

Before anyone could say another word, George was in front of
her. At first, Tom looked as though he were going to defend her, but he let go
and stepped aside. Free of his grip, Harriet considered running, but realised
just how futile that would be.

George put his hands on her shoulder and bent his head
slightly to look at her. “I told you to put the necklace on,” he whispered sadly.
“But perhaps this won’t end as badly as you fear.”

With that, he touched his forehead to hers. Harriet felt a
flash of electricity flow between them. For a second, she saw herself in
seventeenth century clothes in a burning manor house, and then everything went
dark.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself back in the
clearing, aware of what was going on, but unable to move or speak. Only seconds
could have passed, as the new recruits were still standing in a line, facing
their partners. As she watched, some of the most senior Cavaliers walked
towards them and formed a third line. Almost inevitably, George had Ben.

Augustine was coming to the end of a speech. “To complete
the transformation, we drink to the death,” he concluded.

Each old member leant forward and bit the neck of the girl
in front of them. Harriet wanted to scream (wanted more to run over and try to
stop it) but couldn’t make a sound. Any hopes she’d had that George would do
the right thing faded as he bit down hard on Caroline’s tanned neck. Harriet
remembered how he’d fed from her at the winter dinner and felt sick. There was
none of that tenderness now. He was an animal who’d found his prey.

George raised his head and pushed Ben forward. Harriet hoped
that Ben would at least put up a token resistance, but although he didn’t
attack with the gusto displayed by some of the others, he needed only the
gentlest prompting from George to lower his head to Caroline’s bleeding neck
and begin to suck enthusiastically. As Harriet watched in horror, Caroline and
several of the other victims began to make little sounds of pleasure. Harriet
was torn between relief that at least her death would be painless, even
pleasant for her, and disgust at the vampire’s mind tricks.